Short-form game
Story Story Die
A line of players tells one story, each speaking only while pointed at, and eliminated for hesitating or repeating.
Also known as: Story Story Death, Conducted Story
How to run it
- Players stand in a line. One person conducts, standing where all can see them.
- The conductor points at a player, who begins telling a story from an audience suggestion.
- The pointer moves at any moment, even mid-word. The new player continues from exactly that point.
- Hesitation, repetition, ungrammatical continuation or losing the thread eliminates that player — traditionally via an elaborate death scene.
- Continue until one player remains, or until the story reaches a real ending.
What it teaches
Continuous listening. It is impossible to survive while planning, because you never know when the point is coming.
Coaching notes
Conduct unpredictably and cut mid-word rather than at sentence ends — the discomfort is the exercise. Keep the deaths brief or they take over the game.
Where it usually goes wrong
A conductor who points in order, which lets everyone relax and defeats the purpose.